Bottle cap and method for making the same



Oct. 31, 1944. R. SONNENBERG BOTTLE CAP AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed m 1. 1940 Patented Qct. 31,

BOTTLE CAP METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME Rudolph Sonnenberg Belvldere, lli., designer to Mid-West Bottle Cap 00., Belvidere, Ill... a corporation of Illinois Application July 1, 1940, Serial at. 34am 10 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle caps and more particularly tothe type of so-called hood caps used on dairy bottles for the delivery of milk. cream and the like. The invention also relates to a method for making a cap ofthe type described, and to a hood member adapted to be marketed as such and used in the manufacture of said caps.

Some of the more serious d'fllculties with the hood caps of the prior art have long been recognized. In the past, the most common type of milk bottle cap has been formed" of paper gathered over the mouth and around the neck oi the bottle, the mouth of the bottle being closed by a paper disk. It is apparent that the paper, regardless of how well' it is treated, tends to soften in the presence of moisture absorbing the water and frequently the objectionable bacteria which have an opportunity to contaminate 'the-mJk. The hood, on the other hand, has rethin cross-section wherein the hood is romeo by folding operations and'the excess of metal at the.

in of the bottle is gathered into spaced ribs for the purpose of stiiifenlns the hood.

A mrther object of the invention is the provision of a hoodmember for milk bottles formed of thin section metal wherein the metal is folded to produce a central mouth-spanning portion provided with a depressed center, and an annular smrt port.on of novel characteristics facilitating the feeding of thehoods.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hood member of thin cross-section -metal having a central mouth-spanning portion provided with an annular shoulder for centering the hood on the bottle and for guidng 9. mp dish quired relatively strong fastening means to hold the same around theneck of the bottle, and this entails expense in applying the cap, and frequently the wires or other fastening means are difiicult to remove. Recent attempts to solve this difficulty have led to the use of metal caps arranged to seat over. the mouth of the bottle, butthe use of this type of cap has entailed considerable expense because of the cost of metal in producing a hood of suflic ent size. A further dimculty has been that many styles or these caps do not conveniently permit of re-capping thebottle in the home after a part of the contents has been removed.

An important object of the invention is the provision of an improved hood cap of such form that very thin metal may be employed in its manufacture, whereby a substantial skirt may be ployed on the cap w thout increasing the cost thereof to a prohibitive extent.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel pro-formed cap of thin metal having shape characteristics which permit the stacking of the caps in compact stacks in such manner that the individual caps can be freely withdrawn in'succession from the stack for feed ing purposes.

A stillfurther object of the invention is the provision of a hood cap formed of a. metal hood portion and a disk can of conventional form and shape. thereby permitting the dairy operator to stock the hoods in quant ties and apply selected disks thereto at the time of capping.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hood cap having a metallic hood of into seated position on the bottle, the mouthspannine portion having a depressed center to supply stock to the periphery during the disk seating omration.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a novel method of formnga coinpleted cap, wherein the nnalstep's of the cap forming operation are performed directly on the bottle in a novel mm.

Other objects and advantages will the following description and the accompanying 55 member M is formed of thin section sheet metal.

drawing, in which- Figure l is a side elevation members:

Fig. 2 is a section through one of the cap hood members;

Fig. 8 is a top view of the hood member;

Fledisasectlononthe lined-doiFig.3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line o% of Fe; 3;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the neck of a milk bottle and through a cap, showing one of the steps of forming the completed cap on the bottle;

Pie. '1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the completed cap on position on the bottle. and

Fig. 8 is a section through the smrt of the cap taken on the line M of P13. 7.

of a stack of hood 45. The invention contemplates a hood cap for milk bottle and the like comprising basically two parts, one being a conventional disk type cap member designated generally by the numeral 5 (F gs. 6 and 'l), and the other being a hood member separately shown in 2 and 3. These members are fabricated and sold separately to the dairy and are assembled directly on the kettle during the cappmg operations to produce the completed cap, as shown. in Fig. '7. The hood appear from metal of substantially lesser thickness, as for example, .001. Likewise, under severe conditions of service I have used metal of .002 and'.0025. While heavier section metal may be used, this appears to give sumcient strength and rigidity for substantially all requirements, and no particular advantage is gained by using heavier section metal since the cost of the caps increases with increasing thickness.

It will be understood that foil of such thin section presents dimcult handling problems, one difliculty being that of producing the shape characteristics required for a pro-formed hood. The metal can only be drawn to a very limited extent without rupturing the sheet or without reducing the thickness to such a point as to destudy its strength. For this reason the hood member is formed almost entirely by folding and gathering operations. V

The hood member consists of afiared skirt designated generally by the numeral ll, an intermediate rim-engaging portion I 2, and'a 'de-- pressed central mouth-spanning portion: 13. The skirt portion H is Provided with a uniform succession of completed portions formed by bendins sections of the skirt as shown at It into a plane substantially at right angles to the adjoining portions of the skirt, these bent portionsbeing substantially in the shape of a V, as will best be seen from Fig. 6, the apex of the V terminating along the margln of the rim portion 12. This causes the-periphery of the skirt to be depressed at an angle of about 45, as will be apparent from Fig.2, and also produces pleatlike ribs consisting of the sides l4 and sides l5 of substantially greater width than the sides l4.

The sides I5 have a substantially uniform curvahim along their upper edges-where they join the rim portion l2, and along their outer edge as shown at It have a considerably greater curvature. This curvature of the surface of the sides i5 and the fact that the sides M are of substantially shorter length'thanthe sides 15', are a substantial factor in per tting the caps to be stacked closely one on top of the other, as shown and handling without substantial distortion or the skirt. I

Th rimportion I2 is arcuate in cross-section,

' as best shown in Figs. 2 and e, and ha a plurality of ribs l'lj spaced therealong, the number and height thereof being sumcient to gather up the excess stock of the sheet caused by the forming of the rim portion. Howevenin addition to their function in'merely gstheringup the excess stock, these ribs also serve to strengthen the rim portion and render the same rigid to facilitate the handling of the hood member. A still fur-- ther function of these ribs is to cooperate with the disk-member i to render the completed cap tamper-proof. In other words, the inner ends of these ribs shown at 18' overhang the central portion of the hood member and when the disk 9 is seated in position, overhang the edge of this disk in such manner that the disk 9 cannot be removed and a new disk re-inserted without mutilating the inner ends of the ribs in such manner that it immediately becomes apparent that the cap has been tampered with. This is an important feature, since modern dairy practice requires that a hood cap in order to be satisfactory, must be such that the cap or the identlfying parts thereof cannot be removed and replaced without leaving visible evidence of the tampering;

The central mouth-spanning portion 13 com-- prises an annular shoulder it directly aiflacent the rim portion H of the hood and a central depressed portion 2! joined to the shoulder it by an arcuate' wall 22, this arcuate wall serving as a reinforcement of the middle part of thecentral rtion to prevent distortion of the central portion when the upper surface thereof is engaged by a suction cup during feeding operations.

Directing attentionnow more particularly to Figure 1, it will be seen that the planes of the skirt sections I4 do not pass through the center of the cap. The result of this construction is that when the caps arestacked one upon the other as shown in this the corners at the junc ion-between the skirt sections it and I5 extend helically around the stack, as shown at 23, this resulting from the fact that each cap is offset circumferentlally a distance equal to the thickness of the metal from which the cap is made. The purpose of this is to facilitate the successive removal of the hood members from the stack. These feeding operations are conducteigiy a suction cup designated generally by the n eral 24 which moves into contact with the central part of the hood member. Thereafter the air is exhausted from. the

center of the suction cup, causing the top cap move the skirt sections H of the top cap away from the corresponding sections of the next lower cap. During this movemhnt it will be seen that the skirt sections I5 act as a cam to urge the cap away from the next succeeding cap, thus causing the caps to break apart at the start of the feeding operatiomand preventing the withdrawal of more than a single cap from the stack.

In the last stages of the cap making method. the cap is'formed directly on the end of the bottle as shown in Figs. 6 and '1, wherein the numeral 25 designates the neck of a conventional milk bottle having a bead 26, a rim 21, a mouth 28, and a conventional cap seat 29. In Fig; 8 the hood member has been dropped onto the head of the bottle and the disk 8 has been dropped on the upper surface of the hood member in position for the completion of the oil-1)..

It will be seen from this view that the arcuate walls 22 of the central mouth-spanning portion and the shoulder facilitate the centering of the hood member over the mouth of the bottle. It will also be seen that the distance diametrically across the mouth-spanning portion I3 above the shoulder-19 is such that the disk member 9 drops freely into place on the shoulder l9. This shoulder is thus ajcentering means for the disk member 9, and the-inner walls of the rim ll e, the'ribs formed by act to guide the disk member into position as shown in Fig. 6. 1

- with the parts in the position shown in Fig.4; the disk member 9 is urged downward. During the initial part of this movement, the entire hood member is moved down until the rim portion i2 seats in surface contact with the rim 21 of the bottle. Continued movement of the disk member 9 downwardly causes the metal of the rim to be pulled a short distancemver the rim oi the bottle to tighten the .rim portion thereon and to further project the ends of the ribs over the edge of the disk. Further movement causes the metal to be deformed in the junction between the shoulder i9 and the rim portion l2, in efiect causing the shoulder to .movedownward, metal for this movement being drawn fromthe central portion 2| out against the wall 3| of the bottle mouth until the disk member 9 reaches'its seated position shown in Fig. 7. The cap may or 20 may not be caused to move completely to the cap seat, as. desired. For this continued movement, the metal may be drawn from the supply in the central portion 2! or the whole cap may be pulled down slightly without producing any substantial drawing of the metal. When the disk member 9 has reached its seated position, the skirt portion H is contracted aboutthe bead 2B of the bottle by folding in the skirt sections I under the skirt sections it in the manner shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This folding in of the skirt may be accomplished in a number of ways. one satisfactory way being by means of a rubber contraction member adapted to force the skirt in against the bead and compress the metal thereagainst. During this contracting operation, any excess metal is drawn up in the form of ribs, as shown at 82, which lend rigidityto the lower end of the skirt..

'Attention is directed to the shoulder i 9 and the central portion 2|, and the functions performed thereby. It will be seen from Fig. 6 that the disk member 9 falls freely onto the shoulder and therefore rests throughout its periphery on this shoulder; The shoulder supports the disk during a start of its downward movement so that the disk member starts into the mouth of the bottle uniformly, the shoulder preventing the disk from tipping and thus pulling a part of the skirt around over the rim of the bottle. At the same'time the shoulder acts to center the hood member on the head of the bottle so as to cause the hood to rest in parallel'relation with the bottle. The

central portion 2lsupplie's the stock required to v n 55 bottle and thus prevent contamination which'is permit the disk member'to move down to'its iully seated position and required to accommodate for variations in the shape and size of the mouths of the bottles. A further function of the shoulder is to provide a uniform resistance around the disk tothe downward movement thereof during h the seating operation. The arcuate or curved wall 22 serves to rigidity the central portion of the.

hood member in the hood feeding operations, but

also serves, aswill be seen from Fig. 8, to iacilitate' the centering of the hood member on the mouth of the bottle.

Attention is directed to Fig, 7; which shows the I manner in-which the ribs I 8 overlie the disk memberifl andithus serve to retain the disk member "in position. These ribs alsoserve to indicate "when the disk member 9 has been removed subs'equent to capping. It will. be understood that the disk member '9 carries the usual indicia, such as the name of the dairy% and thedate on which scrupulous individuals may desire to remove a disk from bottles of milk undelivered on one day and substitute disks bearing the date of the following day. This is prevented by the ends it of the ribs 'l'l, since the substitutiomot a new disk causes the flattening and distortion of the portion IQ of these ribs so that the cap immediately shows the subs titution.

-It will be seen that I have provided apartially pre-formed hood cap in which the hood is formed of thin metal foil, and in which the cap making operation is completed directly on the head of the bottle. This structure has numerous advantages, among them being the fact that the disk member is 9 may constitute the conventional plugcap. For

this reason the dairyman may use the same disk on the hood cap whichhe is employing for botties capped in other manners; that is, he maypurchase' a 'supplyof plug caps. some of which are used for capping bottles in the conventional manner, and others may be used on the hood cap, thus avoiding the necessity of double printing and double stocking of these members; Furthermore, the hood member is purchased sepathin section for the-reason that the hood member is so formed as to impart substantial strength thereto against bending. this being accomplished by the folds in the skirt-and the ribs ll and 32.

o The structure further permits of this use. because of the presence of the stifl paper disk 9 seated over the mouth of the bottle which acts to prevent puncture of the metal in the-disk spanning portion. In this connection it should be recognized that it is common practice during the delivery of milk to ice the same by covering the case of bottles with chippedice. The disk 9 protects the thin metal from punctureby the sharp edges of the ice during icing and from accidental puncture during handling. In other words, the required strength across the mouth of the bottle is .pro-

vided by the disk member 8, whereas the mouthspanning portion'of the hood acts to isolate the paper disk from contact with the contents of the alleged to occur because of the swelling of the While I have thus described and illustrated a n specific embodiment of the inverition, I am aware that numerous alterations and changes may be made within the spirit oi the invention, and I do not wishto be limited except as required by the scope of the appended claims, in which .Iclaim:

l.v A, pre-i'ormed hood member for milk bottle caps comprising asheet of thin ductile metal foil shaped to provide a mouth-spanning portion hav-. ing an annular cap disk-seating shoulder and-a 7o depressed central portion receivable into the mouth of a bottle, an annular arcuate rim portion "having a wall upstanding from said shoulder, I

and an annular downwardly flared and pleated skirt, the internal diameter-oi said well being the milk'is to, be delivered. It may be that 'un- 76 slightly greater than the inside diameterooi the V mouth of said bottle for free seating of a conventional disk cap on said shoulder, said depressed central portionacting to guide the hood member in the capping position and said shoulder acting to locate the hood member onthe bottle, and said wall and shoulder serving to locate a cap disk on the hood member.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said rim portion is provided with upstanding ribs spaced annularly thereof extending from said skirt portion substantially to said shoulder for stiffening said rim portion and for over hanging 'said disk member when brought into seated posi tion by insertion of the disk and seating oi the cap to prevent replacement of the disk member without detection.

3. A pro-formed hood member-for milk bottle caps comprising a sheet of thin ductile metal foil shaped to provide a mouth-spanning portion having an annular cap disk seating shoulder and a depressed central portion receivable into the mouth of a bottle, an annular arcuate rim portion shaped to seat against the rim of a bottle, and an annular downwardly flared pleated skirt portion, said central portion being dished to pro-- a sponsor the aids of the bottle when the folds are closed around the bead thereof, allof said pleats facing in the same direction, whereby when said hood members are nested together said pleats prevent relative rotation of the hood members in one direction and the portions of the skirt between said pleats cams successive hood members apart upon relative rotation in the opposite direction.

6. The method ofmaking a hood cap for milk bottles which comprises forming a hood member of thin sheet metal foil having a mouth-spanning portion including an annular cap disk seating shoulder and a depressed central portion receivable into the'mouth of a bottle, a concentric rim portion and concentrically downwardly flared pleated skirt portion, seating said hood member loosely on the head of a bottle, dropping a\cap diskonto said shoulder of such size as to firmly engage the interior of the bottle mouth, forcing said cap disk'down into the mouth of the bottle to move the hood member downward and seat the rim portion against the rim of the bottle, and to thereafter move the disk with respect to the hood member to pull metal from said depressed portion and iron the metal at said shoulder against the inner wall of the bottle, and thereafter compressing said skirt portion around the bead of the bottle. I

7. The method of making a hood cap for milk bottles which. comprises forming a hood member of thin sheet metal foil having a mouth-spanning portion'including an annular cap disk seeting shoulder and a depressed central portion recluding an inverted V-shaped section having the point thereof adjacent said rim portion, said sec ti'on being at about right angles withrespect to adjacent portions of the skirt and extending diagonally across the skirt, each of said sections ceivable into the mouth of a bottle, a concentric rim portion having a wall. flaring upwardly and outwardly from said shoulder and bottle rimengaging area, said wall and area having transverse ribs spaced circumferentiallyithereof and an annular downwardly. flared pleated skirt portion, seating saidhood member loosely'on the head of a bottle'I dropping a cap disk onto said shoulder of a size to firmly engage the interior of a bottle mouth, forcing said cap disk into the mouth of the bottle to move the hood member downward to seat the rim portion against the rim of the bottle and to draw therim inwardly to straighten said wall and project said, ribs over one direction and the intermediate portions cam i successive hood members apart upon relative rotation in the opposite direction, the inneredges of said sections acting with said central depressed portion against the bead of a bottle to guide the hood member into centered position.

5. A pre-formed hood member for milk bottle caps comprising a' sheet of thin ductile metal foil shaped to provide a central mouth-spanning =portion having an annular shoulder and a depressed central portion connected'thereto by an arcuate draw in the metal, an annular arcuate rim portion having a wall upstanding from said shoulder, and a bottle rim-engaging area, and a flared annular skirt portion, said rim-engaging area having a plurality of ribs extendingitransversely thereof to absorb the excess metal occasioned byformation of the rim, and, said skirt having annular-1y spaced pleats .to absorb the excess metal occasioned by formation ofthe skirt about right angles with respect to the adjacent portions of the skirt, the planes thereof being at an angle with respect to the center-line of the, member to produce fold linesin a plane through portion receivablain themo uthof a bottle, an

annular arcuate rim receiving portion joining. said mouth-spanning portion, and an annular downwardly and outwardly flared skirt having annularly spaced open pleats disposed angularly with respect to adjoining portions of the skirt to provide edge contact with the mouth of a bottle' -w hen the hood is disposed thereon in an eccentric positiomthe internal diameter 0t the upper part of said mantra-spanning portion bemgslightly greater than the inside diameter of the moutn-f or said bottle for free reception and seating of acute angle with respect to said annularrim re-- a conventional disk cap therein to locate said disk with respect to. the hood member, the inner edges of said open pleats being spaced outwardly from said mouth-spanning portion and at an celving portion for the free reception of the bead of a milk bottle therebetween td'guide the hood aserto'z at member along the inner edges of said pleats under the weight of thefhood member into located position on the bottle when dropped thereon, and

being adapted for subsequent closing around the bead of a bottle.

9. A preformed hood member for milk bottle caps comprising a piece of thin sheet material shaped to provide a mouth-spanning portion havoutwardly from said mouth-spanning portion for the free reception of the bead 'of a milk bottle '3 10. The method of making a hood cap for milk bottles having a cap seat which comprises form- 'ing a hood member of thin sheet metal foil having a mouth spanning portion including a therebetween to guide the hood member into located positionon the bottle when'dropped thereon by contact with the inner and-outer walls of said bead, said depressed central portion being depressed to a degree suflicient to locate the hood in capping position and to provide additional stock to be drawn outwardly against the wall of the bottle during capping upon movement of said disk downwardly in' said mouth-spanning portion withrespect to said hood member.

depressed central portion receivable into the mouth of a bottle, a concentric rim portion having a wall extending upwardly and outwardly from said mouth spanning portion of lesser depth than the distance from the mouth to the cap seat of said bottle, said rim portion having a I plurality of ribs extending transversely and spaced annularly thereof extending outwardly from said wall, and a concentric downwardly flared pleated seat portion, seating said hoodmember loosely on the head of the bottle, dropping a cap disk ontosaid mouth spanning portion of such size as to firmly engage the interior of the bottle mouth, forcing said cap disk down into the mouth of the bottle to tilt said wall inwardly and move the hood member downward 'with the vwall in seated engagement with the inner surface of the bottle adjacent the mouth, to

seat the rim portion against the rim of the bottle and to bring said ribs into overhanging relationship with said disk and continuing to move said cap disk down to thereafter move the disk with respect to the hood member to pull metal from said depressed portion and iron the same against the inner wall of the bottle between the wall and the cap seat, and thereafter compressing said skirt portion around the bead of the bottle,

- RUDOLPH SONNENBERG. 

